Anticipation
by Francesca Montag
Summary: A night in a quiet and lonely town. Ten/Rose


Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Duh.

**Anticipation**

It was a quiet night in a lonely, hushed town that was blanketed by snow. Flakes of frozen white fluttered steadily to the ground. The silence was deafening as the inhabitants of the town slept in their warm beds surrounded by everything they knew and held dear. Suddenly, the sound of time coming undone (only slightly) could be heard by anyone who happened to be awake. It was a low but harsh sound breaking the silence in the little town.

The Tardis materialized on a snowy hill not far from the numbered homes that made up the city. Once settled, the stillness returned. The large blue doors opened up suddenly, Rose bursting outside of the bigger-on-the-inside impossible box and walking quickly away. Having left without a larger and warmer coat, Rose hugged her arms around her – the thin sweater she wore barely covering her body. She's shivered and barely noticed.

After walking a length away from the Tardis, she finally registered where she was and the fact that it was snowing. Almost instantly, the ache began to grow in her legs, her jeans soaked with snow. Her face felt blistering with anger and something else – something that she wanted to ignore at the moment. Instead Rose looked around and saw the flurries falling on all sides of her. The silence hit her next like a sack of bricks. It made her feel so alone – not having the Doctor's frenzied speech around her. No aliens or scheming villains…nothing. Everything was still. Something about it made her nerves fill with pain.

Ahead of her, Rose could see a home. An ordinary home with a smoking chimney and lights hung with such care from its rooftop. Taking a few steps nearer, her breath hitched in her throat. Inside the lovely home there was a beautiful tree decorated with tinsel and blinking lights. Underneath it, a scatter of gifts in all shapes and sizes. On the coffee table rested a half glass of milk and a forgotten cookie. Nothing but crumbs remaining from the rest.

It was Christmas.

She was unsure if it was _her _Christmas, but it was always Christmas sometime. The ends of her mouth curled up slightly at the remembrance of words said a long time ago. Recent memories rushed back at her and whatever smile that had been blossoming quickly vanished from her lips. Instead she hugged herself a bit tighter around the middle and continued looking inside the home through frosted windows. A pang of earthly-homesickness hit her. She knew she was already on Earth, but what was missing was her mum and everything that she entailed. Almost immediately a stronger pang of guilt hit her as she knew that home was the Tardis and that home with her mum had become a pit stop. Whether the guilt was for the Tardis or her mum – she wasn't sure. Maybe it was for them both.

Behind her, the daft Time Lord could be heard, yelling her name into the night, oblivious to the silence that engulfed them. Rose barely registered him.

"Rose, Rose – I'm sorry…I didn't mean…," he stopped suddenly when he realized what she was doing. The Doctor stood beside her and looked inside. Twinkling lights and half-eaten cookies – must be Christmas.

"Well, look at that – had to be Christmas sometime, eh?" he smiled slightly as he nudged his young companion – hoping in vain that she was no longer upset at him.

Rose sighed. It was a deep sound from within her shivering frame, "Yea'" was all she said.

The Doctor frowned, a crease worrying his forehead. "Rose," he began again in a whisper, "I didn't mean it like how you thought I meant it…" The sentence trailed off, the end of it mingling with the air stuck between them. Rose shuddered suddenly, a hitch in her throat and it made him register the fact that she was wearing a simple sweater and not the heavy coat, gloves and scarf she _should_ have been wearing. The Doctor began to immediately shed off his thick coat and laid it across her shoulders without hesitation.

She felt the heaviness of the material weigh her down deeper into the snow. The sting of tears were in her eyes and she feared blinking for it would cause them to drop onto her cheeks. A small smile that wouldn't reach her eyes found its way on her lips as she whispered, "Thanks." Still, her eyes wouldn't leave the sight beyond the frosted glass.

Worry crossed his features – why wouldn't she look at him? Surely, she couldn't be that upset with him. He was about to open his gob to reason with her when she beat him to it.

"It's strange, yea'?"

Thrown off kilter by the question, it took him awhile to respond, "I'm sorry, what?"

Rose blinked, a solitary tear ran down her cheek and she wiped at it swiftly before he could see it (but of course he did).

"It's strange how everythin' is so noisy – the people, cars, doors swinging and chairs scraping…it's all so noisy…" although the Doctor couldn't see her fully, he sensed a wistful look in her eyes.

"…and on Christmas Eve…it's different. Everything is quiet – like the world is waitin' for something. Not just the children – the _world_ itself feels like its waitin'. And that's what's strange because…well…what are they waitin' for?"

The Doctor wasn't accustomed to the twang of melancholy and hurt in Rose's voice and he knew that he was at least half responsible for putting it there. It hurt his hearts to realize that.

He coughed to clear his throat as he dug his hands into his trouser pockets. Ignoring the itch to seek her hand with his, he responded the best way he could, "Well, I suppose…they're waiting for whatever comes next?" The answer sounded reasonable to him, but already Rose was shaking her head at him. He didn't mind that she disagreed with him (not much…okay, maybe it did), but he really needed her to look at him just then – just to know that even if things weren't okay at the moment that they would be in the next. The tone of her voice scared him – and that very thought terrified him.

"Maybe, but I think it's something more. I think it's the _anticipation_ of something bigger and better." Her voice held a sudden peace that seemed out of place for the moment.

Crinkling his nose, the Doctor couldn't help his confusion, "What's the difference?"

At this, Rose finally looked at the Doctor standing so near to her. The flash of her glistening eyes both surprised and pained him. He didn't like to see her upset.

A small smile hinted at her lips and the Doctor let out a heavy breath that he was unaware of holding.

"You're so daft," she whispered, the snowfall having stilled around them, "The way you say it – it's like people are in a constant state of waiting for the next step, so automatic – and yea' maybe that's true, but I think that people do a different kind of waitin'. I think that they're always anticipating something bigger and better happening to them – and that is what keeps them moving day in and day out. It may never happen, but as long as that anticipation is there – they live each day like it can happen. And on Christmas Eve – that's when the anticipation is the thickest. It's when _anything_ can happen." She looked back towards the twinkling tree.

The Doctor blinked hard at her. His answer, one that had seemed so right, now appeared extremely rushed compared to hers. It sounded harsh and fleeting while hers allowed for something…almost _magical_. Memories of a church and catching a taxi home at 2 in the morning rushed through his mind. An ordinary life made so extraordinary by the very special human next to him. Close enough to touch.

"Is that how you were, when you met me?" the question scuttled out before he could think about them. How very characteristic of him. Warmth spread along his body in a full body blush, it seemed. He was thankful for the bad lighting.

Rose stood still for a moment, contemplating. Then, she reached out past the heavy coat in search of his hand. The Doctor quickly met his skin with hers – a hunger satiated for the time being.

"I thought I was just waitin' – living each day like the one before it. I thought that's all it was ever going to be. But then I felt this hand," she picked up their clasped hands to accentuate her point, "pull me forward and the person it belonged to telling me to _run_…and it was like I…woke up. That's when I realized I wasn't just waitin', I was _expecting_ something to happen. And there you were."

There was a spark in her eyes – the one he had come to hold so dear to his hearts. He cherished it and dreaded its absence. He'd made her so upset earlier and feared he wouldn't ever get to see it again. But here it was - she was gifting it to him despite their argument. She never seized to amaze him. And her words, _anything can happen_, repeated in his mind.

He turned to face her, causing her to do the same since he refused to let go of her hand. Her brow wrinkled in confusion, but she said nothing.

"Rose – about what I said before…." a multitude of words were at the edge of his tongue, heavy with emotions he was afraid were about to flood forth, but her quick fingers on his lips stopped him.

"Doctor, it doesn't matter. I know – you don't have to make me understand. I already do," a Rose Tyler smile blossomed on her lips. His grin mirrored hers.

She was just too good.

And it was standing there, amongst the freezing still air that the Doctor realized that he had been stuck, waiting, for the next step since he met her. It crashed into his consciousness like a bolt of lightening during a rainstorm. And all of a sudden, he couldn't remember why he was content with their lives passing them by as is.

"I think we should go in now – I can hardly feel my feet," she chuckled as she looked down to survey the damage.

The Doctor stepped closer to her, the tips of his sneakers touching hers – causing her to look up at him. Her breathing came out in tiny puffs, the transparent clouds of breath between them. He felt his hearts halt; it worried him for a second.

"One more thing…" he trailed off as his mouth descended swiftly to meet hers. Rose tensed under his touch, surprise in a wave throughout her body. The Doctor had feared that he'd done something wrong and was about to pull away when he felt her hands at his collar, keeping him just _there_. His hearts soared.

It was a heated kiss with lips caressing lips – unfamiliar but welcomed territory. The warmth of her mouth mingled with the frozen air, making him shiver. Rose's hands had relaxed and her fingers were scorching trails along his neck and collar. The Doctor's arms had encircled her underneath his coat, searching for her even though he already had her.

Reluctantly, they inched centimeters away from each other, barely leaving enough room for them to catch their breath.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor," her breathy voice unraveled him further – laughter filled her eyes, fueling the spark he loved.

"Merry Christmas Rose – time to go home," he whispered, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips. A blush bloomed on the apples of her cheeks.

And, together, arms wrapped around each other – the pair walked home in the silent and magical night – where truly, _anything _could happen.

* * *

_I've missed Fanfiction - been awhile, yeah? This was written for a new friend on livejournal - hope you liked :) Happy Holidays!_

_Christmas Thoughts coming next week! Stay tuned ;)  
_


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